Hi Dakota, I have a wrapped basement I’m finishing. Do I need draft stopping for that? All videos I’ve seen show examples of concrete walls vs a wrapped basement with insulation. Thanks. By the way, best video I’ve found regarding inspection, so thank you. Very helpful.
Could you please give some guidance on fire blocking for basement soffits? Do you need to fireblock the area above whatever is inside the soffit (e.g., above the ductwork)? I'm genuinely concerned how to achieve that.
Hi Sean. Sorry for the delayed response, but we have another video on draft stopping and fire blocking that should be helpful. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OzDQHs6zt6k.html
Dakota could you please tell me how far from the concrete wall can i build the wood wall and and can i use 2 1/2 in or 3in nails to secure the base plate
Yes it’s fine to make your window sills wider but sills must still be less than 44” above the finished floor for egress windows and all draft stop requirements are still the same.
Is that floating wall a requirement everywhere?never seen that before to be honest and at the time my house was built the small ammount of framing they did do didnt have floating walls
Hi Kobe, the floating wall is not required everywhere, but it is required here in the Pikes Peak region and the 8 jurisdictions we serve. If you have any questions, we're happy to help. If you aren't in our area, I encourage you to check out your local building codes.
Correct. On page 64 of the 2023 RBC is the definition of a sleeping room and it states that it will have a closet at least 16” deep. I have attached a link to the RBC below. Thanks. www.pprbd.org/File/ByAlias/2023PPRBC
I see that there are floating walls for when the concrete slab moves up. What about the doors? Usually the door frame just sits right on the concrete slab, or maybe 1/4" off the floor. What happens if the floor moves up?
Good morning. Your door jams will set on the concrete but there will need to be a gap above the jam and below the header in the rough opening. You will still attach the jam to the floating wall but if the floor moves it will only move the door out of adjustment but will not ever be able to push the wall up into the floor joists and cause any structural damage. Hope this helps.
Hi there, thanks for reaching out. The smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in the area of the scope of work must be hard wired for the structure. So if the permit is for a basement finish all of the smoke and CO alarms in the basement finish where the wall and ceiling finished are removed must be powered from the electricity of the house (hard wired). The smoke and CO alarms on the other floors that must be installed in the required areas such as bedrooms and outside of bedroom groups, can be battery powered, but must still be interconnected (wirelessly) so that if one goes off they all go off. Hope this helps.
Hi Anthony. You can still float your wall with steel studs and this can be achieved in a couple different ways. You can use what is referred to as “Slip Track” on your top plate. You can also cut your studs an inch short at either top or bottom. Hope this helps.
